Dick does not sleep well and is up by 5:30AM looking for coffee. The hotel serves a hot breakfast and he finds a nice automatic coffee machine in the breakfast area. It makes café mocha, cappuccino, espresso, etc. at the touch of a button and the results are not bad. He finds that a café mocha plus two espressos in his big mug are just right for a leisurely cup of coffee while watching the British/Scottish BBC news for the next two hours. There is a national election on Thursday and that is all they are talking about this morning.
Dick wakes Carolyn at 9AM to get some breakfast and then we head out to revisit Rosslyn Chapel. It is raining and cold but we find our way with ease now that we know about the ring or loop road. We buy our tickets to the chapel and listen to a woman give some history of the building. They do not allow photos in the chapel and they are missing a bet as their excuse is the photography will disturb the worshipers. That is BS as there are only tourists and a lot of them. They should charge a camera fee and let the visitors take pictures as the chapel is hugely interesting and ornate with fabulous carving on very square inch of the inside. Dick does "accidentally" get a picture of the ceiling where each of the segments are different designs of flowers and stars. There are many views both inside and outside that we remember from the movie. What we see today took 40 years to build and is only the choir part of the planned church.
An interesting story about the building is told about the master stone carver who carved one of a pair of the main pillars. The owner wanted the other one to be different and really special so the master carver went to Rome for three years to get inspiration. While he was gone, his apprentice told the owner that he had a dream about how the second pillar should be done and was allowed to crave the pillar. It is truly beautiful. When the master mason returned and found the pillar already done by his apprentice and saw what a masterpiece it was, he killed the apprentice in a fit of rage. As a fitting punishment a carving of his head was placed in the Chapel so he has to look at the beautiful pillar for all eternity!
Still raining, we drive back to the hotel where Carolyn eats a bite of lunch from her purchase at Marks and Sparks and then we drive the short way to the parking area for our visit to "The Royal Yacht Britannia." You enter from the second floor of a large shopping mall, buy your tickets and board her at the bridge level and then work your way down, deck by deck starting with the family's living space, the officers mess and the formal entertainment spaces and finally through the enlisted men's spaces working down by grades. She must have been something in her prime. Sixteen private staterooms, a formal dining room that seats 56! A full hospital suite and kitchens for each level of the navy crew plus a separate one for the Queen. During her life she sailed enough miles to have sailed around the world each year of her sailing life. She was built in 1953 and most of the equipment, furnishings, etc. date from her launching. She is quite dated but still a very beautiful ship. Everything is polished and shining like it was when new!
After our tour of the ship, we check out the mall and buy a Scottish road map and return to the hotel where we enjoy a drink and then dinner in the breakfast area of the hotel from our Marks and Sparks purchase.It is trying to clear from the south but is still misting and quite bright for 9:30PM when we turn in.
Still a phenomenal blog. So many varied places and such fabulous photos. Loving all of it.
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